Railway-spike



(No Model.) 7

H. GREER.

RAILWAY SPIKE.

No. 387,068. Patented July 31, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GEEicE.

HOWARD GREER, OF LAKE VIEYV, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND MORRIS SELLERS, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAI LWAY-SPI KE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,068, dated July 31,1888.

Application filed April .2, 1888. Serial No. 209,347. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern/.-

Beit known that I, HOWARD GREER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lake View, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Spikes, of which improvement the following is a specification.

Figure l is a view in side elevation of a railway-spike illustrating mypresent improvement. Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views thereof inthe plane of the lines w x y 3 respectivel y.

In an application already filed, Serial No. 264,457, I described andlaid claim to a railway-spike having a double head and certain otherfeatures of novelty; but inthe drawings showed such features only asapplied to a T- shanked and a rectangular-shanked spike. I believe it tobe practical and advantageous to apply some if not all of said featuresto a spike the shank of which has in crosssection what may forconvenience be termed an L shape, and to this my present inventionrelates. Such a spike is shown in the drawings, where the shank 20 has avertical back rib, 21, but which, instead of extending up and down themiddle of the back face of the shank, is made on one edge ofsuch backface, so that a cross-section through its deepest part gives an L-shapedfig ure, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The lip or hook of the spike, whichlaps onto the rail-flange, is represented at 4. Above this is the head5, which has along its opposite edges two ribs or beads,7 and Sone,7,being on the edge or side next the rail, (when driven,) and the other,8, being on the opposite side or edge. Then it will be seen that aclaw-bar can be applied to draw the spike, with the rail-flange asabearing or fulcrum, and with the handle of the claw-bar working in ornearly in a vertical plane parallel with the line of the track; but thisfeature in its general application to railway-spikes constitutes a partof the subjectmatter of said application, Serial N 0. 264,457, andhence, in this regard, the present case is limited to an L-shanked spikehaving the beads or ribs referred to. In this connection Ihave alsoshown tapering enlargement 9 along the inner upper face of thespike-shank, which, however, being broadly claimed in the applicationabove referred to, is herein claimed only as an element in anLshapedspike; also, in said application I provided for a swell orenlargement, 6, 011 the back of the lower head, 3, so that when, indrawing the spike, a new bite was required, one prong of the claw-barcould be inserted under the lip 4 and the other under the swell 6, theuse of the rail-flange as a fulcrum still being retained. The utility ofthis construction is more obvious with the L form of shank shown thanwith the T, for the reason that, on working from oneside, the verticalback rib of the shank is more out of the way; and, still further, Iprovided for a third grip or bite by means of the taper 9 and a taper,10, on the back face of the vertical rib; but all these elements areclaimed generally in the ease above referred to, and in the present caseare claimed only as constituent elements of a spike having a shankL-shaped as distinguished from T-shaped or rectangular in cross-section.

I claim herein as my invention-- 1. A railwayspike having an L-shaped 7shank, upper head with beads 7 and 8, and a lower head with hook 4,substantially as set forth.

2. A railwayspike having an L- shaped shank, an upper head with beads 7and 8, and a lower head with hook 4 and swell (3, sub stantially as setforth.

3. A railway -spike having an L-shapcd shank, an upper head with beads 7and 8, a lower head with hook 4, and an incline, 9, be neath the hook,substantially as set forth.

4. A railway spike having an L-shaped shank, an upper head with beads 7and 8, a lower head with hook 4-, and inclines 9 and 10, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

- HOWARD GREER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES F. LOESOH, FRANK J. LOESOH.

